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Pianist from The Netherlands, Karel Boehlee is well-known and very popular in Japan. He was the founding member of the anonymous-sounding European Jazz Trio, which helped ignite the "European jazz boom" in Japan nearly two decades ago. More recently, Boehlee has been releasing wonderful CDs with his regular trio from the M&I label, roughly at a pace of one album a year, without ever failing to captivate the Japanese fans.

In Silent Nocturne, his third CD released from M&I, Boehlee surprises us by opening with "Another Life," Pat Metheny's composition with beautiful and memorable melodies. He also shows his strong affinity toward (and training in) classical music by including a wonderful rendition of Chopin's "Nocturne Opus 9." Boehlee's piano sound is simply gorgeous, and he expresses many emotions with just enough notes. He never tries to fill the space with notes, and his romanticism never steeps down to raw sentimentality.

The rhythm section supports and complements Boehlee perfectly. The recorded sound -- from the woody tone of the bass to the delicate sounds of various cymbals stroked by brushes -- is also excellent. If you have a good audio system, you'll be amazed. Very highly recommended.

Produced by Makoto Kimata. Recorded at Dudok Studio, Amsterdam Conservatory, September 22 and 23, 2004. Swing Journal Gold Disc.